Rescue ~6 month old veiled with MBD, need advice.

Hello Everyone! This is my first post and my first chameleon. I am a veterinary technician and I took on a little guy with severe MBD when the previous owners were going to put him down. I named him Gumby because of his condition.



The vet I work with knows a lot about reptiles in general and has had a veiled chameleon himself so we have covered all of the basics as far as husbandry and feeding. We took an x-ray and he has multiple pathologic fractures of his long bones so I made little splints for his arms and legs out of a reusable plastic straw.



He is unable to eat on his own as he has lost function of his tongue due to MBD so I have been syringe feeding repta-boost 2-3 times a day. He weighs 63g, up from 55g five days ago. He is also getting calcionate syrup and I have ordered phoenix worms for him, they are on their way. He has 2 UVB 5.0 lamps and a heat lamp and I put him outside on the patio, not in direct sunlight, as much as possible, so far 3 of the 5 days he has been with me.

Overall he is doing so much better than when he came home with me, he is walking and climbing and has developed an attitude, which is always a good sign in other species. That being said he has started to spit his repta-boost out when I feed him and he hates the calcionate and drools all over the place when I give it to him. I am using the chart in the box for his weight but he is getting harder and harder to feed.

I guess I was hoping to get some advice from those of you that have been through this before, as it is all new to me. Is there anything else that I could be doing to help him?

first of all welcome and bless you for saving him! He is a beautiful Veild. I have never seen the splints used before. Did your vet give him calcium injections? The name is very cute but it is sad at the same time that another chameleon has fallen victim to human ignorance. I would definitely get him IN the direct sunlight. That is one of the best things you can do for him. Just make sure he also has shade and can cool down. I am glad he fell into some loving hands. There are so many cases of this on here. He can lead a decent life. MBD cannot be reversed but it can be prevented from further progressing.

i dont have any advice but keep up the good work on what u r doing with the little guy good luck in the process hope he gets better...i did the same with two leopard geckos and they recovered and doing great now!!!! KEeP UP THE GOOD WORK BUD!!!!

I put him in the sun and he is just hiding under a big piece of bark, he also did this the one time I put him in the sun before. Is it better to have him in the sun but hiding or in the shade but climbing around and in plain sight? Also we were unable to find a veterinary distributor for the calcitonin injections. Still looking, any suggestions on where we could get it from?

I don't but maybe another member will. Sorry! If he does not want to be in the sun then don't force him. i would provide shade and sun and as long as he can climb around then let him choose. My chameleons love to bask at first when I put them out and then they usually retreat to the shade.

Poor guy. He is a nice looking veiled. It's sad to see chameleons with MBD. That's a good idea to use the straws as a cast. Keep up the good husbandry. I hope the best for him.

absolute good job. I love the compassion of people on here

I know he can't use his tongue, but can he "scoop" up worms from your hand?
I have a Cham that received a tongue injury and can't use it at the moment. But will scoop up any feeders, even crickets from a cup.
Silk, horns and butters along with the phoenix worms would be a great addition.
Can you keep him cupped in your hands and take him outside for 20 min at a time? The sun really will do wonders.
I too have a rescue MBD, so anything I can do to help, along with so many others here.
Anne

Unfortunately I have no idea how long it has been since he was able to use his tongue. It may be that once he is able to use it again he will have to learn to use it again. The previous owner told me that she put 20 crickets in the cage and only found one dead one later but that she didn't see him eat them. I think they all just got out because he had lost 5 grams in 2 weeks. But to answer your question, no he isn't trying to scoop feeders.

Can he use his lower jaw?
Have you attempted a worm yet?
He will try to just pick it up with his mouth(not tongue) and realize he can consume food this way. Putting it in your hand, just below and behind his snout so he can register it with his eyesight.
If he can't use his jaw imo his MBD has progressed much farther than my rescue. And I'm sorry for that

I have tried worms, he sees them and will do the hunting dance and open his mouth but then nothing. I tried to hold it in front of his face for almost an hour and still nothing. He can use his jaw though, he takes the repti-boost by syringe and open and closes his mouth as if to say "nom nom."

Welcome to the forum and you are wonderful for helping out this little guy!

Mine absolutely hated the liquid Ca also and would even try to wipe it off his tongue. So, I learned to inject it into waxworms and give it to him that way even though sometimes it would take two or three worms throughout the day to get his calcium dose into him. If I got the worm too filled with the calcium it would pop when he ate it and he would spit out the worm and then all the calcium he could spit out too.

Then I tried the calcium water additive and found out that he could be dying of thirst and refuse to have anything to do with the water if it had the calcium in it but would guzzle plain water.

Injections of Ca would be the way to go, in my opinion. The cases I've read about that gave the injections seem to do better overall. My little guy didn't do well with injections at all and wouldn't eat or drink and I think not getting the injections makes the recovery process alot longer.

Natural sunlight, even if shaded really helped my guy out too. Even more than helping with the bone issues, the sunshine helped is outlook and attitude more than anything else, even the pain meds which he also hated.

And if he will open his mouth for whatever reason, pop in the worms. Way easier than having to pull down on his chin to get a worm into his mouth. Maybe sooner or later he will realize that he can eat them on his own too.

Love the splints by the way. Good job!

I dont have enough knowledge to help you, but just wanted to say you have a big heart and i hope you can help the poor guy.

Thanks for all the encouragement! I will try injecting worms and putting them in his mouth, see if that makes giving the calcionate easier. Tomorrow I will call all of our compounding pharmacies and see if there is any way for them to make calcitonin injectable for me. I read that calcium/phosphorus level need to be corrected before giving calcitonin injections or that it can be fatal. Does anyone know if that just means his intake of cal/phos needs to be correct or does his blood levels need to be corrected prior to these injections?

I am glad that you took him in and trying to help him. Here's an older post that you might find interesting and maybe even a bit helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/meet-jack-worse-case-mbd-ive-ever-seen-42097/

Hi! You're wonderful for taking this project on. In addition to what you are feeding him now you might try "bug juice"...take gutloaded feeders, put them in a blender or spice grinder, add a bit of pedialyte or similar liquid...puree! Nummies!

I'm going to echo everyone else here and congratulate you on taking on this cham instead of watching him be put down. You have a long road in front of you, but you have the knowledge and skill level to be successful. I don't have any personal experience to chime in with, but wanted to also say that I think the straws as splints was a fantastic idea. Best of luck, and I'll be following this thread!

Michelle

Wanted to give you all an update and say thank you again for all the support and advice. Gumby got a cage makeover last night. Previously I had been syringing water because he was unable to move himself in any particular direction but last night I set up his drip system with a little leafy cascade from the top to the bottom of the cage. This morning I put him outside and he has been eyeing the dripping water for a while now. He still seems a little unsure of his footing and he ends up in some twister-esque positions but he is trying and everyday he is better at getting where he wants to be. I was unable to find a pharmacy that had calcitonin so if anyone knows where I might find it please let me know. Thanks Guys!

Sadly

How can somebody let a poor cham get this way ..i mean it s not like they woke up one morning and he got mbd they should have done something a while ago...its good hes with you now hope all goes well

Thank you for the update. I'm glad he seems to be getting stronger. As has been noted, you have a long haul ahead of you, but we've seen some remarkable survival stories on this board. I'm sure we'll be pointing to this thread to encourage others in the future.